Clamp



I March 26, 968 E. A. LOGAN ETAL 3,374,509

CLAMP Filed May 27, 1966 W KNVENTORS wh v 1 M1 m KM United States Patent CLAMP Earl A. Logan, Hazelwood, Mo., and George T. Maloney,

North Plains, and Ralph Carson, Kearney, N.J., as-

siguors to C. R. Bard, Inc., Murray Hill, N.J., a corporation of New York Filed May 27, 1966, Ser. No. 553,559

'1 Claim. (Cl. 24-81) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A one-piece clamp, normally of rigid plastic material, having key-hole shaped openings one of which is adapted to receive and engage a part of a bed covering and at least one other of which is adapted to receive a flexible drainage tube, the larger portion of the latter opening permitting the tube to function without restriction and the smaller portion of said opening being proportioned to pinch the tube closed when the tube is moved into said latter portion.

This invention relates to a clamp for securing tubing or the like to fabric or cloth material and is particularly adaptable for supporting tubing from a sheet or other bed covering.

In hospitals, it is often necessary to hold or secure tubing to the bed clothing of a patient. For example, urinary drainage tubing leading from an in situ catheter to a bedside collection vessel is secured, along its intermediate length, to the bed sheet in a manner to insure good gravity flow by providing a downhill flow path to the collection vessel. According to present practices, the tubing is secured to the bed sheet by means of a rubber band and safety pin, the latter being pinned to the sheet and the rubber band being looped on the safety pin and tubing. This arrangement has the disadvantage of causing tears in the sheet, particularly when the pin is inadvertently pulled while still pinned in place.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a clamp for securing tubing or the like to a fabric or cloth material without subjecting the latter to tearing or other damage during normal use.

Another object is to provide a clamp of the aforementioned type which is adaptable to be fixed to a fabric or cloth material without being pinned to or otherwise penetrating the material.

A further object is to provide a clamp of the aforementioned type which is adaptable to provide obturation of the tubing being supported thereby and which is also adaptable to handle tubing of different diameters.

A further object is to provide a clamp which may be inexpensively mass produced.

A further object is to provide certain improvements in the form, construction, arrangement and material of the several elements wherein the above named and other objects may effectively be attained.

A practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a clamp constructed according to this invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the cutting plane II-II of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the cutting plane III-III of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the clamp holding a length of tubing to a section of bed clothing.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the tubing wedged into a slot in the clamp to obturate the tubing.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a clamp made 3,374,509 Patented Mar. 26, 1968 as a single, integral, unitary structure 10 having formed therein means enabling the clamp to receive and grip a portion of bed clothing 11 and means enabling the clamp to support a tube 12 in a manner to permit unrestricted flow (FIG. 4) or to obturate the tube 12 (FIG. 5).

The means for receiving and gripping the bed clothing 11 comprises a ring aperture 14 leading to a lateral slot 15 by way of a tapered section 16, all the aforesaid being enclosed by the rim 17 formed in the structure 19. It will be evident that the clamp can be readily attached to a section of bed clothing 11 merely by passing a portion of the latter through the ring aperture 14 and then urging one or more folds of the bed clothing into the lateral slot 15 so that the folds will be wedged and tightly held in the slot 15.

The clamp 15 is also provided with two other apertures 13 and 19, communicating with lateral slots 20 and 21 respectively, the aforesaid being enclosed within the rims 17a and 17b respectively, of the structure 10. Either one of the apertures 18 and 19 is adapted to receive the flexible tube 12 to support the latter without impairing flow therethrough. However, to obturate the tube 12, the latter may be grasped and slid laterally into the adjacent slot 26 or 21 thereby compressing or pinching a section of the tube and precluding flow therethrough.

In order to accommodate various tube sizes, the two apertures 18, 19 and their corresponding lateral slots 20, 21 are made of ditferent sizes. The larger aperture 19, for example, may be adapted to accommodate inch internal diameter tubing and the smaller aperture 18 to accommodate 7p; inch internal diameter tubing, these being the two standard sizes of flexible plastic tubing commonly used in hospitals. Thus the two apertures 18, 19 and their associated slots provide flexibility in adapting the clamp for use with either one of two standard sizes of tubing. Under most circumstances the clamp will only be needed to support one tube at a time using the appropriate aperture 13 or 19, depending on the size of the tubing 12, however, the clamp is capable of simultaneously supporting two tubes, if desired.

As shown in the drawings, the apertures 18, 19 may have a somewhat tear-drop shape that converges towards the associated slots 2t), 21 thereby providing a gradual taper to facilitate passing the tube from the aperture 18 or 19 into its associated slot 20 or 21. A slight taper indicated at 22 may be provided along the sides of the slots 20 and 21 to reduce the contact area between the tube and edge of the slot to thereby facilitate passing of the tube laterally in the slot.

As shown in the drawing, a web 23 having a reduced thickness is provided between the apertures for the tube 12 and the ring aperture for the bed clothing 11. Also the rim 17 and rims 17a and 1712 may be joined to each other as shown in the drawings by providing a bar or rib, as indicated at 17c. To facilitate manipulation of the clamp, beveled edge sections 24, 25 may be provided on the outer edges of the rims 17a and 17b. These beveled edge sections 24, 25 prevent the fingers from slipping along the edges of the clamp as the :bed clothing or tube is being wedged in its respective slot.

With the above described clamp, it will be evident that the clamp may be readily attached to and detached from a portion of bed clothing without penetrating or otherwise subjecting the bed clothing to damage. The clamp can support different diameter tubing in a manner to provide normal flow or to obturate the tubing, for example, when the tubing is used as a drainage tube and the latter has to be obturated temporarily to permit emptying of the collection vessel. The clamp of this invention may be inexpensively mass produced from molded plastic (e.g. polypropylene) As may be desired, the width of the clamp may be extended and additional apertures and corresponding slots placing the tube in its respective aperture, slots or cut-t outs (not shown) may be provided in the outer sections of the rims 17b and 17c, to permit the tubing to be slid laterally into or out of the aperture, with or without resilient deformation of the rims.

It will be understood that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and hence We do not intend to be limited to the details shown or described herein except as the same are included in the claim or may be required by disclosures of the prior art.

We claim:

1. A clamp for grippingly securing compressible fluid conducting tubes of selected different sizes to the bed clothing of a hospital patient, said clamp being of generally unitary construction and having finger engageable means formed thereon to facilitate manipulation thereof and having means formed therein for releasably gripping the bed clothing and having means for supporting a tube in a desired free flowing or restricted flow condition, said tube supporting means comprising a plurality of apertures or" generally key-hole configuration and of different sizes each having a generally tear-drop shaped portion for receiving and supporting an associated tube without restricting flow throughthe latter and a narrow slot-like portion adapted to receive and compress said associated tube, said bed clothing gripping means being positioned between a pair of said tube supporting means and comprising an aperture having an enlarged portion adapted to receive a portion of bed clothing therein and a narrow restricted portion of slot-like configuration communicating therewith adapted to firmly grip said portion of the bed clothing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 941,105 11/1909 Seibel 24-81 2,503,327 4/1950 Fields 24-264 X 3,179,991 4/1965 Seal 53 17 X 3,316,935 5/1967 Kaiezer et al. 2514 X DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner. 

